Long before Saturday Night Live and Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy was born to Lillian and Charles Edward Murphy in Brooklyn, New York. Eddie’s father died when he was young and his mother became gravely ill, forcing Eddie and his brother to live in foster care for one year. His mother recovered and Eddie, along with his brother, was returned home. After the remarriage of his mother to Vernon Lynch, Eddie’s family moved to Roosevelt, New York. Eddie spent the rest of his childhood there, already beginning to write and perform comedic routines.

Murphy’s longstanding career began in standup comedy. Greatly influenced by Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, huge names of the time, Murphy showed an inherent talent for making people laugh. Laden with swearing and controversial language of the time, Murphy made a name for himself, if not for comedy, then for the nature of his jokes, which were sometimes characterized as ‘a little insensitive’. In comparison to today’s comedy, Murphy was ahead of the curve.

In the early 80’s, Murphy’s notoriety grew with his comedic performances on Saturday Night Live. By 1982, Murphy had landed a huge role in the movie, 48 Hrs., and in 1983, another huge role in Trading Places. These movies propelled Murphy’s career into stardom. Subsequent films, Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop, only secured his success.

Fast-forward to the 2000’s and you’ll find that Murphy is noted for his family comedy films, such as Dr. Doolittle, Daddy Day Care, and The Haunted Mansion. Needless to say, Eddie’s cleaned up his routine and language. With one of those unique and recognizable voices, you can hear the voice of Eddie in movies like Shrek and Mulan.

Some of Eddie’s most recent films include Tower Heist, Shrek Forever After and The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Although spanned over a few years, these three films alone have projected a whopping $31,500,000 in salary for Murphy. With years of acting, comedic performances and movie voiceovers, Eddie’s net worth today is a stupefying $80 million dollars (50,207,120 GBP).

How many laughs could we have with $80 million dollars?

The good old days of Beverly Hills Cop have long passed, but who says we can’t have a little fun. If Murphy’s feeling generous, we can all do a little role playing. His $80 million could buy 2,666,666 of us some really cool handcuffs.

However, if Eddie’s feeling real generous, a few of us could set up our own ‘Daddy Day Care’. The average cost of building a daycare center is a little over $1 million dollars. With Eddie’s money, he could erect about 80 rugrat-filled premises. We’re not sure about the laughs he could buy, but we can give a good estimate on the crying.